This essay will discuss fast fashion and the impact of technology. I will focus on different levels of the market, the effect of fast fashion on fashion design, how copying affects high-end designer brands, and the impact of technology on the fashion industry. There are three different sectors in the fashion industry. These are Haute Couture, Prêt-à-Porter (Ready to Wear) and High Street (Mass Market). There is a huge difference between the three sectors ranging from cost, manufacturing, design and its customers.1. Haute Couture Haute couture can be referenced as early as the 1700s. Rose Bertin, the French stylist to Queen Marie Antoinette, should be credited with bringing fashion and haute couture into French culture. French leadership in European fashion continued into the 18th century, when influence came from the art, architecture, music, and fashion of the French court of Versailles was imitated throughout Europe. Visitors to Paris brought back dresses that were then copied by local seamstresses. Fashionable women also ordered fashion dolls dressed in the latest Parisian fashions to use as models. As railroads and steamships made travel in Europe easier, it was increasingly common for wealthy women to travel to Paris to purchase clothes and accessories. French fitters and seamstresses were commonly thought to be the best in Europe, and real Parisian garments were considered better than local imitations. Haute Couture, or High Fashion, refers to the creation of exclusive, tailor-made clothing. Wearing Haute Couture is a very expensive lifestyle, it is made using expensive, often unusual fabrics and produced with extreme attention to detail and finish... middle of paper... although the technology has advantages and disadvantages in the field of It is obvious nowadays that the technology we have at our disposal plays a vital function in the workforce of this sector. As mentioned, the three main sectors Haute Couture, Ready to Wear and High Street have contributed to the development of fast fashion in different ways due to their different characteristics. Bibliography and references • Haute Couture News (2011) What is Haute Couture? [online] Available at: http://www.hautecouturenews.com/what-is-haute-couture/ [Accessed 23 March 2014]• Hollander, A. (1992) The Modernization of Fashion Design, Design Quarterly: Walker Art Center .• Kilkenny, N. (2014) 'Fast Fashion and Copyright', lecture, March 2014, Griffith College, Dublin.• Nudelman, Z. (2009) The Art of Couture Sewing, New York: Fairchild Books.